A Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) network is a telecommunications network that uses optical fiber cables and coaxial cables in different portions of the network to carry content (e.g., video, data, voice, etc.). For example, a Multiple System Operator (MSO) may install (or have installed) fiber optic cable from the distribution center (head-end facility) to intermediate nodes located close to a large number of users. From these intermediate nodes, coaxial cable may extend to individual businesses, residences, or other locations. A HFC network may be advantageous in that features of fiber optic cable (e.g., high bandwidth, low noise/interference susceptibility, etc.) can be utilized to reach points close to the users without having to install fiber optic cables to individual locations.
In general, messages/data are transmitted from a transmitting device to a receiving device over an HFC communication channel. Noise may be inherently present within such a communication channel. The transmission of messages over a noisy communication channel often involves some type of forward error checking/correcting process in order to reduce or eliminate noise induced errors at the receiving device.